Posts filed under Energy Independence

Yesterday marked an important anniversary in America’s energy history – 132 years ago, Thomas Edison turned on our country’s first electric grid. Since then, electricity has been a driving force in the growth of America’s economic and social development.

The electric grid crisscrosses our nation, bringing light and power to homes and businesses from coast to coast. Coal has helped power America’s electric grid since 1882 and continues to play an important role today, providing nearly 40 percent of all electricity generated in the country.

To show just how impressive the electric grid really is, the Institute for Energy Research launched the Story of Electricity initiative yesterday:

With new EPA regulations putting the future of coal in jeopardy, the question facing us today is whether the United States’ power grid can adequately provide reliable, affordable electricity if coal is regulated out of existence. The unequivocal answer: absolutely not. The continued use of coal in our energy mix is critical to keep the lights on in America’s homes and businesses.

To keep our nation on the path toward an ever-brighter future powered by safe, affordable and reliable electricity, visit www.KeepAmericasPowerOn.com and take action today.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “out of touch.”

Yesterday, speaking to a group of labor advocates, McCarthy predicted that this administration’s environmental regulations on new power plants and the forthcoming regulations for existing plants will create new opportunities for employment.

As she was making her statement, however, Gallup published its Economic Confidence Rankings, which shows major coal states are gravely concerned about their economic future.

The Gallup index, which ranks the 50 states and Washington, D.C. based on their views of “current U.S. economic conditions and their perceptions of the economy’s direction,” listed West Virginia, Wyoming and Kentucky as three of the four least economically confident states.

These major coal producing states view the EPA’s efforts to regulate coal out of our energy mix as a major threat to their local economies, and with good reason.

“Kentucky and West Virginia, because of the nature of our economies, are going to be hit the hardest,” said Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett.

Bissett went on to note that the opposition to these new regulations in coal producing states isn’t a partisan issue: “Where we’ve lost more than seven thousand direct coal mining jobs… is in our eastern Kentucky coal fields, which is a heavily Democratic area.”

Bissett’s comments stand in strong contrast to the EPA’s McCarthy who has been emphasizing the high level of stakeholder involvement in the lead up to the existing power plant rule.

We’re not sure what McCarthy considers to be a high level of stakeholder involvement or who she thinks important stakeholders are. Clearly, however, they are not the coal communities and families that will be most impacted by EPA’s NSPS regulations as she didn’t even bother to visit them during EPA’s so-called listening tour.

“The real tragedy here is that those claiming to be fighting for the poor are not only making things worse in places like Eastern Kentucky, they’re deliberately ignoring the voices of those who live outside their comfortable Beltway cocoon.”

This morning, I read an editorial in the Wheeling, WV Intelligencer that calls out the EPA for, yet again, shutting out the voices of coal supporters. In the piece, “EPA’s ‘Listening Tour’ is Dishonest,” the editors conclude:

“Unfortunately, the EPA’s itinerary is perfectly legal. It also is perfectly dishonest.”

You see, last year when the EPA announced their proposed New Source Performance Standards, which make it all but impossible to build new coal-fueled power plants here in the United States, they said they were going to listen to the concerns of the American people about their policies.

Sadly, that’s not what they did.

Instead of going to cities and regions where coal supports thousands of jobs and contributes billions to the economy – not to mention keeps the lights on – they showed up in Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Lenexa, and Washington, D.C.

The EPA chose to tip the scales in predominately non-coal areas to seemingly misrepresent America’s support of their proposal.

We can’t sit by and watch the administration attempt to ignore the voices of coal communities and coal states on regulations that will have enormous impacts on our families and businesses, and neither should you.

For the next few weeks, we’re asking all of our supporters to tell the EPA that they oppose these new regulations. The voices of the countless people excluded from the EPA’s sham listening tour must be heard.

In addition to our online letter desk tool, the video below will be playing tomorrow on a mobile billboard that will circle EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. to let them know just how we feel about their dishonest listening efforts.

Take action today. Go to EPARegsCostJobs.com and sign our letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. Every signature is important, so please share this tool with your family and your friends.

As we spend time with our families and friends celebrating our nation’s birthday, America’s Power is pausing to think about the future of our energy independence.

Last week, the administration rolled out its plan for the future of energy policy and its implied intent to significantly reduce the supply or reliable and affordable coal-fueled energy is putting our energy independence at risk.

Leaders on both sides of the aisle are standing up to keep coal a part of America’s energy future and help us move towards energy independence.

An “all-of-the-above” approach is essential to helping our country move closer to energy independence.

Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH): “America needs an ‘all of the above’ energy vision, not a ‘what President Obama thinks is best for us’ dictate. We should be harvesting and using all of the abundant natural resources our great nation has been blessed with: coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, hydropower – and we’ll figure out where wind and solar fit into this vision too. We can, and should be, energy independent.” (Op-Ed, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), “Keep Coal In Energy Mix,” The Intelligencer: Wheeling News-Register, 7/3/13)

Senator Joe Manchin joined Rep. Johnson in his call for an approach that includes all of our resources to achieve energy independence.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): “Moving forward, achieving true energy independence demands that we not only start realizing the importance that coal has in achieving this goal, it means we must also stop demonizing one resource and start developing a comprehensive plan that utilizes all of our domestic resources – coal, natural gas, biomass, nuclear, wind and solar – so that we can, once and for all, end our dependence on foreign oil within this generation.” (“Achieving Energy Independence,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Accessed 7/3/13)

We stand with Sen. Manchin and Rep. Johnson in their efforts to move America towards energy independence using all of our available resources.

Our clean coal technology team is visiting the Phoenix International Raceway this weekend to bring a fun and educational experience about the coal industry’s importance to our economic, energy and environmental security to NASCAR fans in Arizona.

The America’s Power team will be on-site to educate race fans about the history and future of clean coal technology, as well as information on how advanced coal technologies have helped us continue our use of coal while reducing its environmental footprint.

If you’re attending the races this weekend, make it a point to find our display and have one of our team members explain how advanced coal technologies have reduced emissions of traditional pollutants from coal-fueled power plants by nearly 90 percent since 1970 (per unit of electricity generated).

During the 2013 racing season, ACCCE has associate sponsorship placement on JR Motorsports’ No. 5, No. 7 and No. 88 Chevrolet cars for all 33 events on the Nationwide Series schedule.

Make sure to “Like” America’s Power on Facebook to learn more about the role clean coal plays in our everyday lives, and to keep up with all the excitement from this year’s racing season. Don’t forget to take a stand for coal by joining here.

U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01), chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, spoke this morning at the NARUC Winter meetings in Washington, DC and said “Lets do everything possible to take advantage of the resources we have in America so we can be energy independent.”

Just last month, Rep. Whitfield had this to say upon being named chairman of his subcommittee again:

“I believe we made great strides during the 112th Congress in reining in President Obama’s overreaching EPA, but we have more work to do. We will continue to pursue policies that help promote job creation, economic growth, and energy independence – policies that will continue to benefit Kentucky families. ”

“This administration is still trying to regulate coal out of existence and I refuse to stand idly by as these regulations destroy jobs and increase energy costs for consumers. We have once again developed an aggressive agenda that I hope we can pursue in a bipartisan manner.”

During his presentation today at NARUC, Rep. Whitfield urged attendees to “adopt policies that ensure that our job creators can remain competitive in the global marketplace.” And to “not be alarmist, let’s have a balanced approach.”

According to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton, “Chairman Whitfield has been a champion of North American energy and a leader in our pursuit of energy independence. He led the charge last Congress in our fight against harmful EPA regulations and helped advance several commonsense, bipartisan energy solutions.” He is a valued leader of this committee and I am pleased he will remain chairman of this important panel as we look at ways to fortify our energy security and strengthen our economy.”

Today on our Facebook page, we let our more than 277,000 fans know that the energy contained in recoverable coal reserves in the U.S. has the equivalent of one trillion barrels of oil, roughly the same as the world’s known oil reserves.

Show your support for clean coal technology by “Liking” America’s Power on Facebook today. We always welcome a healthy discussion and debate regarding clean coal and the related technologies, but more importantly, we encourage fans to share their thoughts on a wide array of topics.

America is powered by many different types of energy. The country relies on baseload power and peaking power to meet its energy needs. Baseload power provides the energy needed to keep America running all the time—keeping the lights on in our hospitals, fire stations and data centers. For baseload power, you must use hard-path fuels such as coal, which can provide power 24 hours per day. Peaking power is energy that comes on and off throughout the day, when electricity usage and energy demand goes up.

Coal is a strong, dependable form of baseload power, making it an essential part of our energy portfolio. Coal keeps rates stable for families and small businesses—so much so that states using more coal to generate electricity tend to have lower electricity rates.

Using coal as a baseload power in our country helps the United States become more energy independent. Relying on what we have below our feet—roughly two centuries worth of coal—Americans can feel more secure about their energy future.

Mike Duncan is the president and CEO for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the use of coal...
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Laura SheehanSenior Vice President
Communications

Laura Sheehan is a seasoned public affairs expert with more than a 20-year track record in policy communications, media relations, crisis and issues management, community and...
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Julia TreanorSenior Director
Communications

Julia Treanor is a strategic communications and public affairs professional with nearly 10 years of experience in digital strategy, issue advocacy, political communications, media ...
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Jade DavisSenior Director
State Affairs and Outreach

Jade Davis is the Senior Director of State Affairs and Outreach at ACCCE. In his current role, Jade works with ACCCE’s regional and communications staff and government affairs staff ...
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Darian GhorbiDirector
Policy Analysis

Darian Ghorbi is the Director of Policy Analysis at ACCCE. Prior to joining ACCCE, Darian spent five years working for the U.S. Department of Energy.
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Elizabeth JenningsCommunications Specialist

Elizabeth Jennings is ACCCE’s Communications Specialist acting as an integral part of our communications team. She works to expand the reach of our message through traditional and new media platforms....
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The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
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